Sandboarding

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. The recreational activity of sliding down steep sand dunes while standing or lying on a specially designed board
2. A outdoor sport in which participants glide down the slopes of sand dunes using a board similar to a snowboard
3. Riding a short board over the surface of large sand dunes, typically descending slopes for fun or as competition

Etymology: Sandboarding is a blend of "sand" and "snowboarding," so its name is essentially a hybrid of two words describing the same downhill thrill on different surfaces. The sport takes the basic motion of snowboarding, with a board ridden sideways across a slope, and moves it to the dunes, where riders descend steep faces of loose sand. The blend makes the name's logic clear at a glance: the first part tells you the terrain, and the second tells you the technique. Snowboarding was the model, so the sport borrowed its stance, its board and its descent, while the sand supplied the setting.